Lamp for railway-cars



(ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

C. P. HOWARD.

LAMP FOR RAILWAY GARS, 6m. No. 253,207. Patented Feb. 7,1882.

Z Ygf. v JYgQ.

(Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

O. P. HOWARD.

LAMP FOR RAILWAY CARS, &c. No. 253,207 Patented Feb. 7,1882.

' Nrtno STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES P. HOWARD, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

LAMP FOR RAILWAY-CARS, 80G.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 253,207, dated February 7, 1882.

Application filed December 9, 1880. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OnARLEsP. HOWARD, of Hartford, county of Hartford, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lamps for Railway-Cars and otherPurposes, which is fully set forth in thefollowing specification and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a lamp fount and burner with my inventionailded thereto; Fig. 2, a vertical cross-section of the parts shown in Fig. 1, with the further addition of mechanism for raising and lowering the wick by turning a button beneath the lampfoun-t; Fig. 3, a plan view of the spring S shown in Fig. 1, looking down; Fig. 4, a vertical cross-section of the spring S shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a front elevation of the spring S shown in Fig. 1. Fig.6 shows a side elevation of a modification of my improved spring retaining device applied to the lamp. The full black lines of the spring show it as it appears under tension, while the dotted lines show it as it appears when relieved of such tension. Fig. 7 is a top view of the same.

Where severalv lamps illuminate a railwaycarit is desirable that all the flames shall stand parallel to each other, particularly when its lights are located in pairs, as they are in the double lamps at present in use; and it is also desirable that the wick-raising shafts of the burners be so retarded, by friction or otherwise, that the jolt-ing .of the car cannot cause the wicks to be gradually worked down and the brilliancy of the lights to be diminished.

The'object of my invention is to lock the burner of a lamp to the oil-fount in a fixed position, so that it can be neither unscrewed nor screwed up, except by first releasing the lock, and to accomplish this in such a manner that the locking device shall be entirely independent of any addition to the burners commonly found in the market. I

This invention consists, first, in a peculiarlyconstructed spring applied to a lamp for the purpose of preventing the wick-raising or ratchet shaft from casually being turned by the joltings of the car in which the lamp is used; second, in the spring provided with an upturned portion having reverse inclines and a notch between these inclines, in combination with the fount, burner, and ratchet or wickraising shaft, whereby the burner can be readily locked and unlocked, as will be presently described; and, third, in the combination of the lamp-fount, the spring, a rotary ratchet or wick-raising shaft with a pinion on it, and a longitudinal rotary shaft passed through the fount and provided with a gear to engage with the wick-raising shaft, as and for the purpose presently described.

In the accompanying drawings,for the sake of clearness and simplicity, the bracket supporting the oil-fount in place from the ceiling or side of a railwaycar is not shown, it constituting no part of my claim under this application.

0 represents the oil-fount of a lamp; B, an ordinarylamp-burner, having the ratchet-shaft A and thumb-wheel E, for raising and lowering the wick. The lower part of the burnerB is threaded and screws into the internally screw-threaded collar F in the top of the oilfount. The spring S is soldered to the oilfount at I) over a small portion ofits internal periphery, the remaining portion being left free to bend upward or downward. The opposite side of the spring at C is bent upward to form a catch by means of the sloping sides 99 and notch N. The spring S is of ring form internally and encircles the collar of the lamp, and by one portion of its surface it is fastened in position, while its other portion is left free to spring up and down beneath the wick -raising shaft. At the point where it bears against the shaft it is notched, as at N, and the base of this notch bears against the fluted wick raising shaft, and by. upward pressure against the shaft serves to hold the shaft from casually turning by thejoltings of the car in which the lampis used. The shape of the spring, in transverse section in two directions, is shown in the drawings, as is also the form of the same in plan view. By this construction, as the burner is turned to place, the ratchet shaft A, moving transversely around the axis of the lamp, bears against the sloping side 9 of the catch, forcing the spring down until the shaft stands opposite the notch N, when the spring snaps upward, and the shaft, entering the notch N, is held securely in that position. To remove the burner from the fount, the spring S is pressed down by the thumb of the left hand applied at h to release the ratchet-shaft from the notch N. The burner is then unscrewed by turning it transversely with the right hand.

The longitudinal rotary shaft H passes through the tube I, which is soldered oil-tight into the fount. On its lower end the button K is firmly fastened, and on its upper end the gear G is also securely attached. The gearG engages with the pinion Gr on the ratchet-shaft A of the burner. By this construction the wick of the burner B can be raised or lowered by turning the button K, while the spring S prevents the burner from being turned aside and the gears thrown out of engagement by an obstruction oli'ered to the easy moving of the wick.

The inverted cup L is soldered to the gear G, and caps over the end of the tube I, and prevents the oil which condenses on the burner and attachments from entering the top end of the tube and working down onto the button K, where it would soil the fingers.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the A-shaped tooth m is shown formed on an extension, m, ofthe spring S, and this A-shaped tooth works in connection with a star-wheel, m, on the outer portion of the ratchet or wick-raising shaft A, and with this construction the ratchet or wickraising shalt can be turned with the hand, the spring yielding downward, so as to allow the teeth of the star-wheel to pass over the projection of A shape, but said shaft will be prevented by this A- shaped tooth and wheel from turning casually from thejoltings of the car.

By my invention the wiekraising shaft of the burner or burners of lamps used in railway-cars is retarded by friction or otherwise, and the jolt-ings of the car cannot cause the wicks to be gradually worked down and the brilliancy of the lights thereby diminished. My invention prevents the wick-raising shaft of the burner being rotated, except by the employment of considerable more force than that experienced from the joltings of the cars. There has been complaint that the constant trembling and vibration of railway'cars, where the wicks are heavy and full ofoil, cause them gradually to work downward into the oil'fonnt and extinguish the light. The wick-raising shafts in the burners to be found in the market move very easily, and it is therefore necessary to place upon them a friction or check spring, which bears against the rotary shaft of the wick-raiser with force sufficient to prevent said shaft from turning, as above described.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the ratchet or wickraising shaft, of the spring S, properly fastened by one end or portion, and bearing with its tree portion against the ratchet or wick-raising shaft, and thereby preventing it from being turned casually by thejoltings of the car, substantially as described.

2. The spring S, provided with an upturned portion, 0, having reverse inclines g g, and a notch, N, between the inclines, in combination with the fount, burner, and wick-raising shaft, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a fount, the spring S, properly fastened by one portion, a rotary wick raising shaft provided with a pinion, and a longitudinal rotary shaft passing through the fount and provided with a gear to engage with the pinion on the wick-raising shaft, substantially as and for the purpose described.

CHARLES 1 HOWARD.

Vitnesses:

JOHN W. RIPLEY, GEO. D. RIPLEY. 

